The Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center

Brown Bag Lectures

The Elizabeth J. Cabraser 2012 Summer Brown Bag Lectures in Public Interest Law

Tuesday, June 5 California DREAMing: The Future of Undocumented Immigrant Youth

Krsna Avila Legal Services Manager, Educators for Fair Consideration

M. Guada (Lupe) Gallegos-Diaz Director, Chicana Latino Student Development, UC Berkeley

Dennis Lopez Co-Founder & Volunteer, Leticia A. Network

Robert Rubin Civil Rights Attorney

Thalia Soto-Vetter Student & former DREAMer, UC Berkeley

Over two million undocumented immigrant children and young adults have lived in the United States since childhood; California is home to more than a quarter of this population. As advocates continue to pursue the passage of the federal DREAM Act, which would ensure a pathway to citizenship, California has made tremendous advances through litigation, legislation, and community organizing, including passing the California DREAM Act in 2011. Advocates, educators, and DREAMers will discuss the successes of the DREAM movement and the challenges that lie ahead.

Tuesday, June 12 Clean & Safe Ports: The Power of Coalition

Nikki Fortunato Bas Executive Director, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy

Kelsey Frazier Elected Trustee & Shop Steward, Teamsters Union Local 70

Valerie Lapin Director, Oakland Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports, Change to Win

The Clean & Safe Ports campaign is an innovative alliance of port truck drivers, environmentalists, union members, faith leaders and community residents. The campaign strives to make the port trucking industry more efficient, reduce air pollution, improve the quality of jobs, and stimulate greater economic opportunities for residents living in surrounding port communities. Come hear from Coalition members about their work to achieve economic and environmental justice in Oakland.

Tuesday, June 19 Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz

Barbara Babcock Judge John Crown Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

Barbara Babcock will discuss her recently published book on the life and career of Clara Foltz, the first woman admitted to the California Bar and the first to advocate for the creation of a public defender system. Professor Babcock’s research highlights the interconnectedness of suffragists like Foltz and advocates for other civil rights and legal reforms.

Tuesday, June 26 Title IX Turns 40

Marlene Bjornsrud CEO, Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative

Monica Santos Quintana Director of Program Development, Coaching Corps

Moderator Tamika Butler Fair Play for Girls in Sports, LAS–ELC

June 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the groundbreaking federal legislation requiring that schools provide female students with the same access to athletic opportunities, programs and facilities as male students. While significant strides have been made in securing equality for women in collegiate sports, compliance with the law in grades K–12 is marginal at best. Join a conversation with advocates and athletes about the progress we have made and the potential to advance in the years to come.

Tuesday, July 10 Rock the Vote or Block the Vote: Redistricting and Voter Access

Maria Blanco Commissioner, California Citizens Redistricting Commission; Vice President, Civic Engagement, California Community Foundation

Sheila Thomas Civil Rights Attorney; Board of Directors, Advancement Project

The right to vote preserves and protects all other statutory and constitutional rights. Redistricting can create districts that fairly reflect minority voting strength or work to dismantle districts that provide minority voters an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. Learn about the modern day erosion of voting rights through block the vote initiatives that suppress the voting power of people of color, the elderly, the poor, and the young.

Tuesday, July 17 The Uninsured: Federal, State, and Local Responses to a National Crisis

Matt Goldberg Supervising Compliance Officer, Office of Labor Standards Enforcement

Sarah Olivia Mercer Director of Government Affairs, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

Ann O’Leary Director, Children & Families Program, Center for the Next Generation

Ongoing Supreme Court litigation around thefederal Affordable Care Act (ACA) will affect millions of uninsured individuals. San Francisco and California have been responding to the health care crisis through innovative programs and local laws like Healthy San Francisco and the Health Care Security Ordinance. Learn about the current state of the local health care system, and how the ACA, if implemented, may affect California’s medical coverage requirements, affordability, accessibility, and efficiency.

Tuesday, July 24 The Season for Gay Rights? A Discussion of Emerging Constitutional Law

Julie Nice Herbst Foundation Professor of Law, USF School of Law

Amy Whelan Senior Staff Attorney, National Center for Lesbian Rights

Moderator Claudia Center Senior Staff Attorney, LAS–ELC

In 2012, federal courts across the country are considering challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act in contexts ranging from spousal health benefits to green card sponsorship to ERISA benefit plans to IRS-regulated long-term care. At the same time, the Prop 8 case is winding its way through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Panelists will review the judiciary’s increasing recognition of the rights of gays and lesbians and their families, and discuss what comes next.

Tuesday, July 31 Location: Golden Gate University, School of Law, 536 Mission Street, Rooms 2201/02 Supreme Court Review: Analysis and Discussion of the 2011–2012 Term

Pamela S. Karlan Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law, Stanford Law School

Professor Karlan will provide her analysis of the 2011–2012 Supreme Court, drawing on her experiences as a former Supreme Court clerk, constitutional law professor, and founding director of Stanford’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. The Court undertook a review of the Affordable Care Act in an unprecedented three-day oral argument, as well as the regulation of “fleeting expletives” on television, the constitutionality of life-without-parole sentences for juveniles, the enforceability of credit card arbitration clauses, the constitutionality of warrantless GPS tracking devices, and the reasonableness of strip searches of individuals arrested for minor offenses.

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